SPECI AL I NSERT
Resurrecting Baltimore
The Art of the Possible by Omari Bakari The death of Freddy Gray at the hands of the Baltimore Police Department was the tipping point for a national outcry for unjust treatment of Black Americans nationally. As cities across the nation rallied behind the rebellion on the streets of Baltimore many other racial atrocities against us raised their ugly heads of bigotry. Baltimore, like most other major cities across the nation, is a Tale of Two Cities. There’s one city where privileged Americans enjoy a superior quality of life, then there is the other where less fortunate exist in an inferior state of being. The preppy youngsters on yakety yak social media appropriately call it “Bmore and Bless”referring to the haves and have nots. Make no mistake, in Baltimore there is a very visible defining line between those who live in poverty and those who enjoy the finer things this city has to offer. As I said, what happened in Baltimore was only the tipping point. What followed in Charleston, SC at Emmanuel A.M.E. those nine murders woke black America up from its state of inertia. We have more recently learned that 6 black churches have been burned to the ground in the south over the past two weeks since then. In fact, the Hutchinson Report announced in a recent article that 37 Black Churches have been torched over the past 18 months. The Hutchinson report also stated that
the ATF has investigated more than 150 Church burnings covering a six year period both North and South - both white and black churches. CNN reported in May (the month Baltimore recorded 37 homicides which exceeded a forty year record), that as of June 2015 nationwide 743 police killings had been reported and of that number 382 were black men. A national report states that 440 black men were killed by police in 2014. Even worse, reports indicate that this year twice as many black men will be killed by police than the year before. Today, there are more black men in prison than they were black men doing all the slavery. As President Barack Obama works effortlessly to expand the middle class for Americans, we can no longer sit back relying on government to fix our problems. As Black Americans, we must prepare ourselves, our families and communities to fully participate in the growth and development of our nation. This means making health, education and financial freedom a priority. We must be prepared for the challenges ahead that will impact our economic outcome. No longer can we wait for federal aid to improve our community and economic outlook. It’s going to take the entire community working together
to bring about change. It is important that we learn and begin to implement cooperative economics to bring about this change. This means that every individual in our community will have to engage some type of transformative change. For this to happen two things must take place: the development of human capital and the saving of souls! The development of human capital is beyond the scope of government agencies including the public school system. These agencies have demonstrated they are clueless when it comes to helping people manage a better quality of life or provide solutions to help these families overcome the challenges of poverty. We must become vigilant about directing this change and not simply continue to go through the changes that do not benefit us nor are they in our best interest. We must learn how to convert government failures into our successes. In part this must occur at the very point that seems to be under attack by the powers that be, the black church and among black men. The black church has historically been the center for moral values, learning, public awareness, protest and political clout for the black community. Over the years these institutions have had a diminishing influence on black men and their roles within their family and community well being. It will take the black church to restore these values and invigorate discussions for solutions in
order to convert the hopeless into the hopeful. Developing human capital is to restore hope in the hopeless and activate the soul with the living spirit of God. This will be a starting point to evoke change that we can direct. This is how we can begin to write the history of what President Obama’s legacy meant to Black America. This can only be achieved by the charge and call to action by the Black Church. The Power Magazine has a growth plan to introduce a digital publication. While the intent is to grow the business itself, the effort will be that of a social enterprise, partnering with such entities as The Umoja Group, The Emerging Technology Center and various church organization interested in restoring faith and hope in America’s greatest city Baltimore! For more information on the Baltimore Movement “the art of the possible”, send an email to: omari@umojagroup. org